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All UK flights have been grounded until tomorrow morning as a spreading cloud of volcanic ash heads south from Iceland towards continental Europe.
In the first extended closure of British air space in living memory millions of airline passengers face travel chaos as National Air Traffic Services (Nats) said no civilian planes would fly until at least 7am on Friday morning because of the eruption in Iceland.

"The cloud of volcanic ash is now spread across the UK and continuing to travel south. In line with international civil aviation policy, no flights other than agreed emergencies are currently permitted in UK controlled airspace," a spokesman from Nats said.

"Following a review of the latest Met Office information, NATS advises that these restrictions will remain in place in UK controlled airspace until 0600 tomorrow, Friday 16 April, at the earliest."

OK, I know it's not AGW, but how long before somebody gets on TV or in print and makes a connection between the two?

Quite the opposite, actually. This is an example of global cooling. All of that dust and debris will block sunlight and lead to lower temperatures on the continent. Of course, don't expect to hear that from the University of East Anglia...

The ground-stop is still on. Virtually no air traffic is leaving or entering the UK and most north western EU countries are in the same position. Each day, the stop is extended to the next day.

Problem is, no one knows how long this might go on for.

Airflow is not going to become favorable to clear that ash out until MAYBE friday or saturday. But that'll just give a short reprieve. As long as that volcano is erupting the dominate jet pattern is going to keep Europe grounded.

In most sports, cold-cocking an opposing player repeatedly in the face with a series of gigantic Slovakian uppercuts would get you a multi-game suspension without pay.

In hockey, it means you have to sit in the penalty box for five minutes.

Airflow is not going to become favorable to clear that ash out until MAYBE friday or saturday. But that'll just give a short reprieve. As long as that volcano is erupting the dominate jet pattern is going to keep Europe grounded.

That's exactly the worry ... the airflow patterns can be predicted, but not the volcano.

I'd take the train to Belgium, but that's likely to be fully booked out by now.